3 days ago
- General
- New Indian Express
40 years on, four military officer friends reunite at Sainik School alumni meet
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a homecoming, rich with memories and inspiration. Four decades after they stepped out of Sainik School in Kazhakoottam, four close friends, who now hold key positions in the Indian armed forces, returned to their alma mater on Saturday for an alumni meet.
Lieutenant General Vijay B Nair, Major General Vinod T Mathew, Major General Hari B Pillai, and Air Vice Marshal K V Surendran Nair — batchmates from the class of 1985 — were the guests of honour at the gathering. Another former student, Air Marshal Balakrishnan Manikantan, was the chief guest of the event. During their visit, the officers also inaugurated a 150 KW solar power plant on the school campus.
'About 14 students from our batch joined the armed forces,' said M A Anil Kumar, another 1985 alumnus and former regional manager of the Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural Rural Development Bank. 'During their talk, they recalled how visits from serving officers during school days deeply inspired them to join the forces,' he added.
Lieutenant General Vijay Nair, a native of Palakkad, now leads the Indian Army's Northern Command based in Udhampur. A key figure in Operation Sindoor, he has commanded anti-terrorist operations in Kashmir and served in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. He also headed the UN Multinational Force in Congo. Major General Vinod Mathew, from Thodupuzha, is the General Officer Commanding of the Karnataka-Kerala Sub-Area. He led rescue operations during the Chooralmala-Mundakai landslide in Wayanad and has fought insurgencies in Assam and Manipur. He has served in UN missions in both Congo and Sudan.
Major General Hari Pillai, from Kundara, currently serves as Additional Director General of the Bengaluru Regional Recruitment Zone. With years of experience in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir and the North-East, he also served with the UN in Congo.
Air Vice Marshal Surendran Nair, from Thrissur, is among the country's top fighter pilots. He has flown MiG-21s, MiG-29s, and Sukhoi-30s and currently serves as Chief Instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.
The alumni meet saw students from various walks of life -- doctors, engineers, bureaucrats, pilots, and UN officials -- return to the campus. What truly captured the spirit of the occasion was the story of these four classmates, who grew up dreaming together and went on to serve the nation.
